Paper short abstract:

I propose an analysis of "Eguchi suieki" (1981) by Saegusa Kazuko from the point of view of gender and intertextuality with the noh play "Eguchi", focusing on the image of the female sex worker between slavery and agency and I explore the possibilities of the text in the contemporary context.

Paper long abstract:

Saegusa Kazuko (1929-2003) wrote "Eguchi suieki" at the beginning of the 1980ies. In this shōsetsu, many sexual topics appear without veils, since they are seen from the point of view of insiders of the world of appointment houses and prostitution. At the time the concept of politically correctness was not born yet, but surely touching points such as rape, female sexual promiscuity, the role of geisha, prostitutes or comfort women was already considered delicate. Much postwar literature (Kimura 2016) around the topic of comfort women was obviously focused on the oppression and abuse by Japanese military over Japanese and other Asian women. On the other hand, the role of comfort women had also been represented in literature as a positive way to escape traditional roles of mother and wife (Slaymaker, 2004). Even if denouncing the violence and the sexual discrimination at the base of this system, Saegusa shows through the two main characters (a former comfort woman and her daughter) the possibility of being a promiscuous woman by choice, be it for money, sexual pleasure or for a sense of compassion towards the male partners. More focused on questioning commonsensical moral values than to denounce war sexual crimes, In "Eguchi suieki" the ambiguity of the female figure - both victimized by and satisfied with sexuality outside marriage - leaves an inevitable sense of incongruity. In my presentation I would like to explore how the cynical stance at the base of the narration, which today would be linked to the issue of politically correctness, can be strategically used to rethink topics related to gender such as voluntary prostitution, which are still discussed (Shrage 2016). In particular, I intend to investigate if the intertextuality with the noh drama "Eguchi", based on the non-dualistic concept of good and evil, ultimately succeeds in showing the figure of the sex worker from a non-judgmental position. Moreover, I would like to explore the device of blurring the boundary of self and other (Sugii 2009) by a continue noh-like overlapping of dream and reality, past and present, which strengthens the complexity and possibility of this text.